Recovery Using EBS Technology

Table of Contents

Overview

Install Procedure

Prerequisites

Configurations to Set the Age of Temporary Restored Files

Perform An Archive

Recover Items

Overview

The SharePoint Archiver Agent is a software module responsible for periodically moving unused or infrequently used SharePoint documents on a host computer to secondary storage, thereby reducing the size of data on the primary storage. Archiver Agents reduce the duration of backup windows by reducing the amount of data to be backed up by an iDataAgent.

Optionally, the SharePoint Archiver Agent can be set up to use EBS Provider technology. This feature includes the following benefits:

SharePoint Archiver Agent with EBS Provider Technology supports the following library types:

Install Procedure

Prerequisites

If your current Calypso service pack level is 4B or higher, before you install SharePoint Archiver Agent, you must uninstall all Calypso software from the machine.

For SharePoint Farm environments, you must install SharePoint Archiver Agent on all Web front ends in the farm.

The user who installs the SharePoint Archiver Agent requires the following privileges:

To install the SharePoint Archiver Agent:

1. Run Setup.exe from the Software Installation Package.
2. Select the required language.

Click Next.
3. Select the option to install software on this computer.
  The options that appear on this screen depend on the computer in which the software is being installed.
4. Select I accept the terms in the license agreement.

Click Next.
5. Expand Client Modules | Backup & Recovery | File System and select Windows File System iDataAgent

Click Next.
6. Expand Client Modules | Archive Management and select SharePoint Archiver Agent.

Click Next.
7. If this computer and the CommServe is separated by a firewall, select the Configure firewall services option and then click Next.

For firewall options and configuration instructions, see Firewall Configuration and continue with the installation.

If firewall configuration is not required, click Next.
8. Enter the fully qualified domain name of the CommServe Host Name.

Click Next.

  Do not use space and the following characters when specifying a new name for the CommServe Host Name:

\|`~!@#$%^&*()+=<>/?,[]{}:;'"
9. Click Next.
10. Select Add programs to the Windows Firewall Exclusion List, to add CommCell programs and services to the Windows Firewall Exclusion List.

Click Next.

  This option enables CommCell operations across Windows firewall by adding CommCell programs and services to Windows firewall exclusion list.

It is recommended to select this option even if Windows firewall is disabled. This will allow the CommCell programs and services to function if the Windows firewall is enabled at a later time.
11. Click Next.
  It is recommended to select the Download latest update pack(s) option to automatically install the available updates during installation.
12. Verify the default location for software installation.

Click Browse to change the default location.

Click Next.
 
  • Do not install the software to a mapped network drive.
  • Do not use the following characters when specifying the destination path:

     / : * ? " < > | #

    It is recommended that you use alphanumeric characters only.
13. Select a Client Group from the list.

Click Next.
This screen will be displayed if Client Groups are configured in the CommCell Console.

14. Click Next.
15. Select a Storage Policy from the drop-down list. Click Next.
16. Enter the User Name and Password for the SharePoint Administration Account and then click Next.
  If you use SharePoint DataArchiver EBS provider capabilities, the SharePoint Administrator Account and all Web Application Pools users must have full access rights to the following:
  • Job Results folder
  • Log Files Directory
  • The path that points to each virtual directory in the IIS created for SharePoint
  • EBS cache folder

Also, Web Application Pools users must have read access to the following location: [hkey_local_machine]\[software]\[CommVault Systems Registry].

See the SharePoint Agents section in User Accounts and Passwords for more information.
17. In the Destination Folder box, enter the location where you want to save recovered items, and then click Next.
 
  • Back up the EBS Cache folder along with site collection or the content database backup.
  • For SharePoint Farm environments with multiple Web front ends, the EBS cache folder must be a shared location that can be accessed by all Web front end servers. For example, the configuration should look like //machine_name/EBScache.
18. You are prompted for the Microsoft SharePoint Server name.

The computer name is displayed by default; if this is not correct, enter the correct name.

Click Next.
19. Click Next.
20. Click OK.
21. Click Finish.
  Before you run the first archive job, upload a document to the SharePoint site and confirm that cvebsprovider.log appears under Calypso logs. This verifies that EBS is configured properly.

Configurations to Set the Age of Temporary Restored Files

When you view archived files from inside SharePoint, they are saved temporarily in the EBS cache folder. By default, files in the EBS cache folder that are at least 30 minutes old are deleted during the next data archiving job because the registry key is set to 1. However, you can set the files to be deleted after 2 or more minutes, depending on the time that you specify in the registry key. When this key is set to 2 or higher, the value indicates the number of minutes that a file can remain in the EBS Cache folder before being deleted. For example, if the key is set to 10, any files that are at least 10 minutes old are deleted during the next data archiving job.

  1. From the CommCell Browser, expand Client Computers, and then right-click the <Instance>.
  2. Click Properties, and then click the Registry Key Settings tab.
  3. Click Add.
  4. In the Name box, enter nSTAGEDFILESTIMETOLIVE.
  5. In the Location box, enter SharePointDM.
  6. From the Type list, select REG_DWORD.
  7. In the Value box, enter the number of minutes that you want files to remain in the EBS Cache folder before they are deleted.
  8. Click OK.
  9. Click OK.

For more information, see Registry Keys.

Perform An Archive

1.
  • From the CommCell Console, navigate to Client Computers | <Client> | Exchange Mailbox Archiver | defaultArchiveSet.
  • Right-click the default subclient and click Archive.
2.
  • Click Immediate.
  • Click OK.
3. You can track the progress of the job from the Job Controller.
4. Once the job is complete, view the details of job by right-clicking the Subclient and selecting Archive History.
5. Click OK.
6. Right-click the job to:
  • View items that failed, if any, during the job.
  • Resubmit the job.
  • View job details, such as the number of mailboxes archived.
  • View events associated with the job.
  • Send the log file that is associated with the job.

Recover Items

Viewing Archived Files

You can view an archived file directly from the media to which it was archived. When you view a file, it is stored temporarily in the EBS cache folder. By default, files in the EBS cache folder that are at least 30 minutes old are archived again during the next data archiving job.

To view an archived file:

1. Log into your SharePoint site.  
2. In the SharePoint site, open a library and navigate to the file that you want to recover.
3. Click on the file name.

Recovering Archived Files

You can edit an archived file, and then reintroduce it to the SharePoint server. Once you reintroduce it, the file remains on the SharePoint server until the file satisfies the archive criteria and an archive operation runs. To edit an archived file:

1. Log into your SharePoint site.  
2. In the SharePoint site, open a library and navigate to the file that you want to recover.
3. Next to a file name, expand the Edit menu, and then click Check Out.
4. When you have finished editing the file, expand the Edit menu for that file, and then click Check In.